Author Archives: jtjim

Silent No More

June 17, 2013

Jane Jimenez

Georgette stood quietly facing the demonstration of women in front of the Supreme Court. Her hand-made sign spoke for her: I Regret Choosing Abortion. While these women called themselves the National Organization for Women, she wanted them to know they didn’t speak for all women. They didn’t speak for her.

In the early evening, standing as a silent witness to the NOW members at their annual candlelight vigil commemorating Roe v. Wade, Georgette’s deepest hope was to create dialogue. “If I’m expressing regret,” she asked, “would they try to connect with me?”

After more than an hour, she had her answer. Georgette recalls, “One woman said to me, ‘I’m sorry you feel that way.’ But she was the only person that even came close to reaching out to me. The rest of them sneered and jeered…dismissive of me. I’m thinking, ‘Wait a second. These are supposed to be women representing women…and they’re not. They are women who are representing abortion.’”

Georgette went home that night committed to action. “I felt that we really needed to start a new NOW organization…a new organization that really did represent women who were hurting after their abortion experience, who were willing to reach out to other women who were hurting. Nobody cared about us.”

The sting of their disinterest was personal. At sixteen, in 1976, Georgette found herself pregnant and told her boyfriend she would take care of the problem. “I remember driving down to the clinic thinking, ‘This feels very wrong, but because it is legal, it must be OK.’”

After her abortion, she spent the night with her sister. Her boyfriend paid her for “his half,” and Georgette’s main concern was how to appear normal so her mom wouldn’t figure it out. “I decided I could just pretend yesterday didn’t happen. Block it out. And that’s what I did.”

Even in the years before becoming a Christian, her denial was not perfect. “I could go long, long periods of time and never even think about an abortion…except when I heard the word. It would always feel like somebody stuck a knife in my stomach and twisted it….then I would promptly go back to ignoring it.”

Once she became a Christian, she knew she would have to face some hard realities.

At first, it was painful. “I understood that abortion was wrong in God’s eyes,” she explains. “I knew that it was a baby. I knew that I had lost out on being a parent to a wonderful child, and I began the grieving process.” In a program with other women working to heal from abortion she began to accept God’s forgiveness and to resolve her conflicted feelings.

It was especially difficult for her to understand how she could advise women against abortion. “I was listening to other women in the group talk about how abortion had hurt them,” Georgette says. “It kind of clicked for me that it’s OK for me to stand up and say abortion isn’t good, even though I had one. I began to understand that you could, in a sense, change your mind as you realized that it wasn’t a good choice down the road.”

Georgette’s handmade sign with its five words I Regret Aborting My Child helped her finally break through the personal silence that had imprisoned her for so many years. Leaving the Supreme Court that night, she could no longer retreat and let others define abortion solely as a choice that helps women.

Back at home, she met with good friend Janet Morana. “I wanted my voice to be there in opposition to this other voice that was saying women need the right to abortion.”

Janet agreed. She told Georgette, “I’m convinced that you’re not the only person that feels this way, that has had an abortion and has come to healing. You want to get the message out that abortion wasn’t good for women, for those who are considering an abortion…maybe to stop them…and to reach out to women who are still locked in denial.”

They decided to return the next year to the Supreme Court steps, meeting again in front of NOW’s annual candlelight vigil, and to hold an event where women would stand up one after the other sharing the truth of what had happened to them in their abortions. Women would be Silent No More. Georgette’s vision was clear. “I wanted the truth to stand.”

Plans revolved around “the sign” – something each woman could hold. Janet, a former school teacher, envisioned the new signs stark, “like a blackboard, that if you could be standing 50 yards away, you’ll see the message.” On large poster board, she set large white letters into a plain black background: I Regret My Abortion.

Jennifer O’Neill signed on as their national spokesperson. Discussing her own abortion in her autobiography Surviving Myself, Jennifer tells how she was pressured by her fiancé to have the abortion. Today she is intent on revealing the lies used to protect abortion. “Women are not given the truth so that they can make an informed decision.” She speaks from experience. “I had to have two operations because of scarring. I had trouble conceiving. Women have higher rates of miscarriage. I had nine. We are not told any of that.”

As Janet and Georgette reached out to ministries, making certain abortion counselors would be available to women at the event, word of their plans began to filter out through the Internet. In only three months, 579 women had registered to participate. Some wanted to speak. Others asked to stand and hold signs. Still others, unable to travel to Washington D.C., organized events in their own cities.

On January 22, 2003, on the 30^th memorial of Roe v. Wade, women gathered in unity at the Supreme Court to be Silent No More about abortion. “It was an absolutely freezing cold day,” Janet remembers. Beginning at 5:00 p.m., the sun had set. “We were totally frozen. The wind chill factor was below zero.”

Jennifer O’Neill led the evening with her personal testimony of abortion’s harmful impact on her life. She was followed, one by one, by sixty women who stepped to the microphone and shared their testimonies.

Once again, members of NOW rejected the message of Silent No More, yelling taunts and jockeying for position. Just as conflict seemed possible, Bryan Kemper arrived with nearly 40 teens from Rock for Life who had asked to come and pray for the women. “They were some of the extreme rockers, but there they were,” Georgette says. “These kids came in, and they just knelt down in between the two groups and acted as a barrier.”

For two and a half hours, in the freezing cold, this bold group of women and teens gave witness to the harmful impact of abortion on women… long after NOW organizers had packed up and gone home. In each personal story, the women of Silent No More gave individual proof of the long list of negative consequences stemming from abortion.

The next morning, The Washington Post carried a front page photo of Silent No More. Janet was thrilled. “To me, that was a breakthrough in the blackout of the media, just to have a picture.”

Beyond the Washington D.C. event, women around the country conducted their own public events holding up the black-and-white signs and giving their personal testimonies. In Arizona, Joan Maloof gathered a group of women who met at the state capitol. “We were stunned when we stepped up to the podium and saw the number of microphones,” she says, “and the number of people that were gathered….One woman gave her testimony in Spanish.”

Now active in all fifty states, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign is a non-denominational Christian effort with no political or legal agenda. Its emphasis is on awareness, seeking both to educate the public on the harmful consequences of abortion and to reach out to hurting women with compassion and help.

Women can register on their website confidentially. “This is not about getting every woman who’s gone through abortion out to speak in public,” Janet Morana explains. “The most important thing is to meet the women where they are. They’re not all on the same level. Some of them might want to come to an event, and they’re not even ready to hold a sign yet. They’ll just want to stand there as a prayer warrior in support of the other women. It’s in their journey of healing.”

The campaign continues to gain momentum with new volunteers and projects. Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., played a key role in the filming of a Silent No More commercial. Shot in Arizona, with the help of Joan Maloof and Arizona volunteers, it speaks to the common experience of post-abortive women: “You see, abortion didn’t solve our problems. It just created new ones.”

Alveda King credits her grandfather, Martin Luther King, Sr., with saving her from choosing abortion a second time. “That was the Christian foundation speaking through my grandfather.”

When she began witnessing about abortion in 1983, people came to her “one by one, secretly.” In recent years, she hears from women more and more, telling her “Well, you know, that happened to me, too. And this is how I felt.” Alveda is encouraged. “People are responding and getting healing. So it’s positive.”

Jennifer O’Neill agrees. At large conferences for women, abortion is not a common topic. But when she spoke openly about abortion and abuse for Women of Faith, she was on her feet all day at her book table, “hugging women that were lined up. I could see their faces, the ones that had had abortions….Just holding onto me…this glimmer of hope that they could finally be released.”

As she says, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign “creates a safe place for women to break their silence about the pain of abortion.” But it doesn’t stop there. True healing comes from Jesus Christ and a loving heavenly Father.

Joan Maloof has spent years teaching a special Bible study for post-abortive women, Forgiven and Set Free. “I would say the number one consequence that women confess first is guilt…overwhelming guilt.” She encourages pastors and churches to “address the abortion issue with compassion. I think more people would come forward and receive healing. Then those healed people would be a real tool in changing the hearts and minds of others.”

Jennifer agrees. “It is safe to say we all know someone who’s had an abortion, if not had one ourselves. Invite them to consider that possibly many of the ills in their life—physical, emotional, spiritual—could have been born of that act of abortion. Then they can begin to heal.” Acknowledging the source of our faith, she says, “Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins, not for just some of them….He can heal us.”

One woman, one sign, and one lonely night standing for truth. God’s truth shines brighter, bringing hope and healing, thanks to the courage of the women of Silent No More.

RADIO: Hear Georgette tell her story.

************************

Rachel’s Vineyard is a ministry serving men and women and is dedicated to healing the pain of abortion. In addition to the information available online, they offer a variety of programs including one-on-one personal support, DVD educational programs, newsletters and retreats. Women and men who attend a Rachel’s Vineyard Weekend are also eligible to join their online community Companions on a Journey.

Follow the Money

“Follow the money,” was the memorable quote from All the President’s Men. Deep Throat advised Bob Woodward that the key to understanding the Watergate mystery was the money.

May 6, 2013

Jane Jimenez

Sex is a big industry in America. Forget pornography. Don’t even consider prostitution.

Leaving them aside, the sex industry permeates every detail of our life in America. If you want to understand much of the cultural war dealing with issues between the sexes, you will do well to understand the influence business has…and wants to have…in helping to shape our sexual ethics…and actions.

We can each make a short list of the more obvious and visible business profit motives:

Cher, Madonna and Lady Gaga, their music, their dress, and their public behaviors.
Abercrombie and Fitch advertising campaigns featuring groups of half-dressed teens suggestively staged together in group hugs.
Abercrombie for Kids and its line of underwear for young girls with the sayings “Wink Wink” and “Eye Candy” screenprinted on them.
Publishers who fight for the right to publish Fifty Shades of Grey as a trilogy. One story, three opportunities to profit. Anyone want to predict Son of Fifty Shades?

But the most pernicious profits made in shaping the sexual ethics of our culture are made in industries you would not immediately think of. These profits are pernicious because of the lies needed to cultivate and protect sexual products and habits that hurt men and women.

Consider the world of medicine. In the purest sense, doctors, hospitals and drugs are supposed to serve the needs of people. They are supposed to preserve and restore health. For the most part, they do this job well.

But when health is tied to sexual behaviors, we enter a new realm where free sex becomes a direct path to free money. As sexual behavior has exploded in our culture, so have profits.

The first wave of profits washed up on America’s shore with the introduction in 1960 of “the Pill”. The key to liberation of human sexual behavior, Enovid manufactured by G.D.Searle was first introduced “for the benefit of married women” to help them “plan their pregnancies.” By the end of 1961, 132 reports of thrombosis and embolism were filed, reports that included 11 deaths.

Approved as “safe and effective,” Enovid sales continued, as evidence of its dangers was shelved. Barbara Seaman dedicated her career as a reporter to finding the evidence…by following the money…digging into reports, interviewing doctors and women, and attending hearings.

Evidence existed to indict the pill. But, as Seaman remembers, “[it] was scattered in the international medical literature, was difficult to interpret, and was obscured by a mantle of ‘diplomatic immunity’ granted the pill in response to fears of unchecked population growth.” Seaman dogged the industry and compiled her evidence into an expose, The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill.

In the 25^th Anniversary Edition, Updated, feminist Gloria Steinem puts Seaman on a well-deserved pedestal. “Barbara Seaman is the first prophet of the women’s health movement and The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill is a prophecy that is still coming true. By alerting us to the dangers of the high dose contraceptive pill, Seaman won drug labeling for all health consumers. This 25^th anniversary edition takes that model of empowerment into the future.”

That was just what Seaman had wanted. “My goal was to pull together all the evidence on side effects, dramatize (or melodramatize) it as much as possible, and issue a plea for women’s informed consent.” With her book, women would finally get the truth they deserved: their “safe and effective” pill had ”over 50 potential side effects…linked to infertility, breast cancer, menstrual irregularities, and emotional disturbances.”

Money…lies…profits…this is a recipe for the kind of success some people think is fair game. In his book Adverse Reactions, author Thomas Maeder, reveals the philosophy of Harry Loynd, once a president of Parke-Davis. Loynd’s motto, loudly touted, was, “Pills are to sell, not to take.” At sales meetings he boasted, “If we put horse manure in a capsule, we could sell it to 95 percent of these doctors.”

After 25 years, Seaman got praise from Gloria Steinem. But in 1969, when The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill was published, Seaman suffered severe financial and legal attacks. Planned Parenthood, in conjunction with drug industry companies, raised $100,000 for an injunction, attempting to kill publication of the book.

When Seaman’s book did hit the shelves, drug companies then killed her magazine connections. Drug ad executives approached publishers with a do-or-die offer. “Corporation X is launching a seven-and-a half-million-dollar campaign for its new diaper-rash ointment.” Your magazine is our first choice for these ad dollars…except… “on the editorial side you have an individual [Seaman] who is hurting sales of our most important prescription drug.”

What was at stake? For the women of America, their lives were at risk. For drug companies, it was profits. By 1969, an estimated 12 to 15 million women were taking the pill. At a time when teacher salaries were less than ten thousand, profits from the annual sale of more than 15 million pill bottles was a lot of money. It still is.

The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill remains a riveting story about the David and Goliath size battle. One fiercely determined woman wins against multi-million dollar corporations and their greed, lies and deceit.

In the 60’s, the contraceptive pill was an entirely new product. Since then, the pill has spawned a whole arsenal of drugs and practices that promise us “free sex”: Norplant, Depo Provera, emergency contraception, Plan B, abortion, Gardasil, and more…much more.

Think Seaman’s book has ended the stream of lies that conceal dangers to women and men related to our sexual practices? Hardly. The lies…and truth…are out there. Just look for the money…and follow it.

***************************************

April 29, 2013: Lies, Lies and Damned Lies

STAY CONNECTED…

From the Home Front is committed to shining the light on truth,exposing lies and deceit. Future columns will address the full extent of the profiteering by companies promoting the “safe sex” message and culture.

Lies, Lies and Damned Lies

April 29, 2013

Jane Jimenez

If the Internet has any value at all, you would think it would be in its role in “truth telling.” If only.

Lies and deceit are as old as Adam and Eve. Lying is an equal opportunity sin: The man answered God, “The woman you put here with me….The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Lying is eternal. Only one generation out of the Garden, Cain took advantage of lies in an attempt to deceive his Maker. Where was Able? “I don’t know,” Cain said…presumably with a straight face.

The Bible abounds in wisdom grounded in knowing the difference between truth and lies. Proverbs warns us. Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit. [Prov 26:24 NIV] Satan, the quintessential evil being, is named Father of all lies.

There is only one reason that lying is so pervasive. There is profit in being a good liar. If successful, you can retain your deed to the Garden of Eden; you can avoid the mark of Cain for murder.

Ford car company tried its best. And it almost got away with a very profitable lie. In 1968, the Ford Pinto was set up to be a hot-selling, middle-America car. Cute car, cute name…the Pinto was perfect for families on a budget and for their children just learning to drive. Only problem? Every once in a while, in a simple fender-bender car accident, the Pinto would explode into flames. And flames are quite deadly to the people involved.

In May 1972, Lily Gray was traveling with thirteen year old Richard Grimshaw in a 1972 Pinto when their car was struck by another car traveling approximately thirty miles per hour. The impact ignited a fire in the Pinto which killed Lily Gray and left Richard Grimshaw with devastating injuries. A judgment was rendered against Ford and the jury awarded the Gray family $560,000 and Matthew Grimshaw $2.5 million in compensatory damages. The surprise came when the jury awarded $125 million in punitive damages as well. This was subsequently reduced to $3.5 million.

Long ago, when truth was recorded on scrolls, one can imagine how difficult it would have been to ride a donkey down to the local synagogue and dig through their scroll library, unrolling and rolling back leather scrolls in a search for the damning evidence to prove that Ford lied. With the Internet, just type in “Ford Pinto,” and your evidence is at hand. Voila! Search finished. They lied.

The Internet, not yet in existence, would have been a great help in the 70s to reveal truth about the Pinto, saving time…and more importantly…saving lives. It took more deaths, many years, and thousands of hours upon hours of research to prove that the deaths in Pinto accidents were caused by corporate greed. Law professor Palmiter explains:

Although Ford had access to a new design which would decrease the possibility of the Ford Pinto from exploding, the company chose not to implement the design, which would have cost $11 per car, even though it had done an analysis showing that the new design would result in 180 less deaths.

In the current age, no matter how you count the years between Genesis and today, we are witnesses to a “whole lot of lying going on.” Just last night, in the commercial breaks for a one hour crime drama, three different drug companies are being accused of lying. The companies told consumers, “Take our drug. It is good for you.” They are being sued. Liars?

Did you take Accutane, Zoloft, or Actos? One word typed into your Internet search engine…one click… “Enter”…and the entire library of the universe is at your disposal. You would think that is enough to find truth and reveal lies…wouldn’t you?

If only!

And these drugs are the simple cases. Don’t even think about investigating lies that involve our sexually promiscuous society.

Have you ever wondered about the money to be made in the sex industry? Forget the obvious – pornography and prostitution. What about all of the money to be made by encouraging people of all ages to have all types of sex at any time with anyone for any reason?

If the question does not produce a string of dollar signs in your mind, please return to Genesis. If any question has merits in today’s culture, this is it. What profits are to be made by convincing people to have more of what they already are programmed to desire? Sex.

And…with all that money at stake…what is the possibility that there are lies out there waiting to be discovered? Sex…money…lies? It’s a calculation you can bet on.

***********************************

KEEP POSTED:

Upcoming columns will expose the many profits to be had for those in our culture who are in the business of promoting free and easy sex. Yes, there is a cost involved in “free” sex.

Risking Death

April 22, 2013

Jane Jimenez

Summer is the time to celebrate health! We are heading into the season for flip flops, sun screen and watermelon. And with all of our attention on health and fun, what better time is there to consider the possibility of risking death?

In the summer of 1975, moviegoers huddled together in dark theaters, watching death unfold on Amity Island. The new Sheriff in this small beach community discovered the remains of a shark attack victim. And horror exploded on the screen, leading to three sequels of JAWS and a theme song that, forty years later, children can hum with glee.

Sharks…and death…what is your risk this year? According to OCEANA, only about a dozen of the approximately 500 shark species should be considered potentially dangerous to humans. White, tiger and bull sharks are responsible for more than half of all shark attacks. In five years (2006-2010), an average of 4.2 fatal shark attacks took place each year world-wide. Between 2006 and 2010, a total of 179 shark attacks occurred in the U.S., resulting in three fatalities.

Bathtubs…and death? You might want to take your baths in the ocean with the sharks. In 2003, 320 U.S. citizens died in the bathtub…no sharks involved.

How many ways are there to risk dying? LiveScience on the web has saved us much work, speculating on 10 Easy Paths to Destruction. Saying Amen to Rocker Tommy Lee who once said, “[W]’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time,” they warn us away from the ten “easiest catalysts to self-destruction.” Are you surprised when you learn you should not eat junk or smoke cigarettes?

Junk food…and death? Are you thinking candy bars and deep-fried Twinkies? Think again.

Researchers analyzed the diet, health and death data on 37,698 men and 83,644 women over two decades. Participants completed questionnaires about their diets every four years. During the study follow-up period of more than two decades, almost 24,000 of the participants died, including 5,910 from heart disease and 9,464 from cancer.

Death…by eating red meat? Here are the facts. Over 10 years, eating the equivalent of a quarter-pound hamburger daily gave men in the study a 22% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27% higher risk of dying of heart disease. Overall, one serving per day of processed red meat increased risk of cancer by 16%.

Death…and eating chicken? Using a statistic model, the researchers estimated that replacing one serving a day of red meat with one serving of with poultry would decrease the risk by 14%; nuts, 19%; beans, 10%; low-fat dairy, 10%; whole grains, 14%, and fish, 7%.

Sharks…red meat…are vegetables starting to look better on the grill?

The largest study of its kind found vegetarians have healthier hearts than those who eat meat or fish. According to two large studies, vegetarians are a third less likely to need hospital treatment for heart disease or die from it, and the diet could mean living nine additional years than you might consuming meat based diets.

So…let’s get real. And let’s get serious.

Do you know someone who has breast cancer? While Americans are planning trips to the beach this summer, do you know someone who is undergoing chemo and meeting with the attorney to write out their end-of-life wishes?

What if you knew important information about risks that lead to breast cancer? And what if that information could make a difference for you, your wife and your daughters? Would that gain your attention just as much as the stats for death by shark attack, bathtubs and eating red meat?

As reported in the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute Newsletter, “This past February, the news media widely covered a study in JAMA which showed that the incidence in breast cancer had almost doubled over the past 34 years, 2% per year, compounded. This represents an over 90% increase in women between 20 and 39 years old. The cancers they were citing were invasive and had already spread outside of the breast which are life threatening. The Author, Rebecca Johnson, had been diagnosed herself at age 26 with breast cancer.”

So…let’s consider. What is contributing to this dramatic increase in the incidence of breast cancer? Swimming with sharks? Eating hot dogs and steak?

If swimming with sharks led to breast cancer, you can be sure we would be reading about it in The New York Times. They would lead with this story at least once a month, and NFL football players would have decals of Pink Sharks on their helmets this year.

Instead, this crisis of life is being ignored. We have all the pretty pink ribbons…and NONE of the facts.

If you want to know the facts, they are available. The Breast Cancer Prevention Institute has followed this issue for years. Thanks to the Internet, we no longer have to wait for the facts in The Times. Here they are:

Non-invasive breast cancer, in-situ cancers, has risen by 300% since 1975.
In-situ cancers, treated with mastectomy, radiation, and hormonal therapy, progress into invasive cancers if not treated.
Invasive cancers have risen about 40% over 35 years.

And if it is not sharks…and not red meat…what is leading to all of this cancer?

The Breast Cancer Prevention Institute provides a chart of 70 professional studies investigating elective abortion as it relates to breast cancer. Of these studies, 33 demonstrate a statistically significant correlation between induced abortion and breast cancer. In total, 55 of the 70 studies present a positive correlation between induced abortion and breast cancer.

Our mothers and daughters are being sold down the river…the shark-infested river.

Unwilling to speak truth, abortion proponents prefer to sell pink football gear to the players and to ask for your money at the grocery counter…”for breast cancer research.” Why?

We have research! We can educate women…and the men who REALLY care about women. Abortion is a real link to women and death by cancer.

Summer…fall, winter and spring…this matters! Check out the information. Share it with those you love. This is not political. It is personal. It is about saving the lives of people we love.

Sharks, red meat…and abortion…truth is truth, no matter what. If we are afraid of one shark eating our child this summer, we should fear for the lives of our wives, daughters and friends being sacrificed in silence to shield abortion from critical evaluation.

Summer is coming on. You have time to read. If you care about the women in your life, there is no better time than now to read and learn what we can do to save their lives.

Risking death? Not if we don’t have to. This is a summer for life. Take time to read and to enjoy time with the ones you love!

*****************************

BREAST CANCER RISKS

Want more information? Check out the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute publications that give a full picture of this link of breast cancer to induced abortion.

Illinois Teaches Teens How to Do Safe Sex?

April 15, 2013

Jane Jimenez

We can all agree on the problem with teens and sex. We have too much of it, along with the attendant problematic results: STDs, single parent homes, absent fathers, abortion, economic challenges, and more. Since the 1960s and the start of the sexual revolution, we have watched these problems escalate. We have wrung our hands. And we have sought solutions.

Illinois legislators think they have the solution. And in their eagerness to “solve the problem,” they are preparing to mandate the “solution” that many believe is one of the problems that got us into the fix we are in.

For half a century, we have explored ways to address the problems associated with teen sex. Sadly, the first problem is our inability to even agree on the problem at hand. Do we…

Suffer from Puritanical sexual standards, or
Believe that sex has no meaning other than the actual physical encounter…
Welcome babies as the blessing of our fertility, or
Dispose of babies as inconvenient byproducts of sexual pleasure…
Address the different sexual needs of men and women emotionally and physically, or
Maintain that gender has no significance based on our “sexual equality”…
Help parents in their roles as educators for their children on sexual values, or
Bypass parents as ignorant stewards of their child’s sexual health…?

This list of conflicting values and beliefs could fill up a spiral student college notebook. Not surprisingly, the supposed “solutions” to the problems of teen sex could fill up ten spiral student college notebooks.

In Illinois, legislators have put their collective finger on the solution. They have decided to bet on condoms and contraception. But they are not betting with their own lives.

Legislators are betting the lives of all Illinois school children on a pipe dream, betting these young lives on a “solution” that is actually a problem gift-wrapped in wishful thinking. They want all Illinois sex education programs to instruct students on how to use a condom and on how to take birth control.

They are not the first to throw condoms at kids, and they won’t be the last. But, after 50 years of condoms in baskets, free for the taking, we have not solved anything. Indeed, the very real possibility is that we have made the problem worse. It is a conundrum that perplexes many.

How could we possibly go wrong in teaching children the use of condoms and contraception? Let us count the ways:

The language of safe and protection is used to sell condoms. True safety is always safe – 100% of the time. Medically accurate information reveals that condoms and contraception fail…even with experienced users. [See testimony linked below for detailed information.]
The singular “problem” that concerns legislators is pregnancy. How do they prevent babies? Many young people do not see babies as a problem. In fact, for many young people, babies can be a solution for these teens to their own set of problems totally ignored by adults.
Condoms and contraception address one primary problem: pregnancy. They are not the solution to STDs and can even magnify exposure to STDs. STDs are not simply “cured” with a few antibiotics. They lead to sterility, serious lifelong health problems, cancer and death.
Classroom educators who promote condoms and contraception through their demonstrations are giving medical advice and instruction to minor children. These teachers are not subject to the professional medical standards that govern any other area of medicine: credentialing, supervision and medical liability.
Condom and contraception instruction lacks any serious follow up with minor children: testing for their understanding, their retention of information or the appropriateness of information for their individual situations.
Condom and contraception instruction is often conducted “in the shadows,” in such a way as to distance children from parents and important adults in their lives. In some cases, parents are characterized by instructors as ignorant, out of touch, and untrustworthy.
Condom and contraception instruction empowers people who prey on children, implying that teen sex is appropriate and isolating children from true protection in their families and from medical professionals.
Abortion is the unspoken fallback option promoted – and sold – for any failure of a condom or contraception. It is no surprise that many of the same businesses that sell abortion are lead advocates for and teachers of contraception.

These are serious drawbacks to the proposed mandate in Illinois. But the greatest problem with the solution is its failure to actually and directly teach students the healthiest choice of all.

The proposed legislation withholds truth from our children. The bill “makes changes to provide that all classes that teach sex education and discuss sexual intercourse in grades 6 through 12 shall emphasize that abstinence from sexual intercourse is a responsible and positive decision.” [underlining added]

This statement is worded to suggest that there is a long list of responsible and positive decisions about sex that students can use to choose the one they like best. It suggests that abstinence is just one of many decisions the student is free to choose from They can responsibly consider no sex…or they can responsibly consider sex with a condom. Either…or…both decisions are on the list of “responsible sex” given approval by the instructor.

Consider that a sixth grade student is 11 to 12 years old. Is that what you want a stranger to be teaching your child? Do you want the teacher to tell your 12-year-old daughter that she can have “safe” and “responsible” sex if she uses a condom and that abstinence from sex is just one option of many “good choices?”

Condoms and contraception are mechanical fixes used to address a condition of the heart and soul. Children want love. They want acceptance and affection. These are not sexual needs. They are heart needs.

We can teach children healthy approaches to life, and we can guide them in those choices. We do that in the areas of diet, smoking, driving and drugs. It is time to step up to the plate and truly safeguard the sexual health and future for our children.

Illinois…Illinois legislators…the children of your state deserve the best and truest options of all. If education is not directed to the highest and best goals for our children, then we will get the problems that we deserve. Unfortunately for our children, we are playing with their lives and with their futures. They deserve better.

**************************

NOTE: Detailed testimony presented by Scott Phelps to the Illinois State Legislator presents research and professional evidence, including CDC guidelines, supporting a commitment to abstinence until marriage education for students in grades 6 to 12.

*************************

ARCHIVES – RELATED COLUMNS

August 13, 2004: Only

April 16, 2004: One Stop Shopping